Monday, July 31, 2017

Tell me something nice that you saw happen today. Not something that involved you in any way, but that someone else did.

For example, the other day at the subway station, I saw a woman frantic to catch a bus. A man stepped into said bus and pretended to be confused, but really was just stalling the driver, while she muscled her luggage the last dozen meters, and caught her bus.

How do I know? As soon as she got there, he stepped back off the bus and blocked the door until she got on.

Someone asked him "Did you know her?"

He said "Nope, but I've missed a few important connections in my life, and it really sucks."

Friday, July 28, 2017

"Razor thin slices of root beer."

What? Listen, Imagination, you know I love you, but what the Hell am I supposed to do with that?If you're going to be difficult, I'm going to start leaving you at home....Okay, hang on... I think I see something...

Fiction Friday

The beautiful writer, Fern Kali, has her own blog, and she posts some really wonderful fiction, and she is a creative story-teller, who brings real life to her creations.

Through a bit of a semantic quirk, let's say Fern and I have jointly "created" Fiction Friday - the idea is post something creative - a character, a game mechanic, or - best of all - a story of some kind. Even just a couple pages, or a scene from a longer piece, or whatever. Something with a story, or story hook, that people can relax too, and have a bit of fun.

Razor Thin...

So, here's my outline. Classic dystopian future - think Blade Runner (the original, with it's crappy budget) - where there is resource scarcity. There's a weird minimalism to the economy - no one starves, which keeps crime down - but getting "ahead" is a real bitch.

...Slices of Root Beer

In our modern world, sugar cane is dirt cheap, and loaded into everything as a highly addictive substance. But, in a dystopian future, where fertile ground for growing healthy crops might be hard to come by, and very nearly everything is synthetic, then something as simple as real root beer becomes a luxury.

Those who have "pleased their masters" might be rewarded with a razor thin slice of root beer - the genuine flavor and real sugar would be hyped as a real prize (and given resource scarcity, might be valued like gold).

I mean, look at gold - except for a few industrial uses, it's mostly just pretty. People value it primarily because it's 1) pretty, 2) scarce. If everyone could find gold in the streets, all the time, then everyone would treat it slightly better than lead, right? Lead not being as pretty, and having the additional side effect of being toxic, but you know what I mean.

People value things that are scarce, especially if the beautiful or privileged people value the same thing. I mean, Shark Fins as a delicacy? Caviar? Beaver tail? Seriously? As far as I'm concerned, taste like shit, but they're scarce, thus expensive, and therefore people value them.

Therefore - in this dystopian, resource scarce world, filled with disposable humans as common labor - cogs in the wheel, where middle management delude themselves into believing they have importance by tormenting those beneath them - absurd pleasures become valued treasures.

Friday, July 21, 2017

Nastja Ella Simone

Background & Origin: She was working on her PhD in robotics when she got tapped to join a secret project that was funded by the military, contacted to a private corporation, and using university students and faculty to develop the designs in modular fashion. Although nearly a hundred people at the university were s omehow part of the project, only a handful knew it even existed and only two knew the full scope.

Nastja was one of the cogs in the wheels. She is a very talented roboticist, with supplemental training in cybernetics and artificial intelligence. Her work is integral to the exoskeleton on which the suit operates.

A motorcycle accident resulted in brain damage and she lost motor control over her legs. Despondent, she helped design some brain implants intent on having them installed in herself, to restore lost motor function. When all conventional avenues turned her away, she sought out an underground neuroroboticist. She doesn't talk about the deal she made with Alexi, but she still can't walk. However, her overall brain function erupted, and she felt the trade was acceptable.

She returned to university, and blew through her classes. She got drawn deeper into the secret power armor project to figure out why the control interfaces were driving volunteers mad (they all got pulled from the project while medications still allowed them normal lives). While the root problem remains elusive, it turns out Nastja’s implants allow her to control the suit without any side effects.

She didn't build the suit, but she has trained to maintain and repair it regularly, and upgrade it occasionally.

Her place of birth was a rural village, a tiny collection of farms. She was raised by relatives.

She has the following siblings:

A younger brother that she has lost touch with;

A twin brother that bears her a grudge for some past transgression;

An adopted older brother that still lives with her childhood caretakers - he became “institutionalized,” and now works to help other kids survive the orphanage system.

She has experienced the following important events:

Blind luck provided her with a financial windfall, found cash, an inheritance, or something similar;

She made an enemy, a clan, gang or other small group. Nastja and the enemy are both equally annoyed with each other. This enemy have some close family ties that give them minor clout. Racial, religious or political bias caused the rift;

She performed a vital task for a military leader, who is now in her debt;

She made an enemy, a clan, gang or other small group. There's lots of yelling when they're around each other. They are not particularly important in the grand scheme of things. Nastja took advantage of them via scam or brute force;

A serious relationship ended when her partner died, murdered by someone. She don't know who.

An incapacitating accident left her laid up for several months, and permanently disfigured;

Her relationship choices were sub-par, and she found herself two-timing a steady partner. He never found out.

Combat Tactics: She is a melee fighter, and a dirty one. Leg sweeps, sand in the eyes, picking someone up and throwing him in front of a bus - it's all fair game to make the fight end as fast as possible.

Personality Traits:

Rude, compassionate, nurturing.

Appearance: 5’5”, 117 lbs.

Powers: In addition to being a gifted cyberneticist and roboticist, she has brain implants that give her enhanced intelligence and motor function. Despite that, her legs still don't work. Her doctors have begun telling her the paralysis is psychosomatic, and she tells them to eat shit and die.

She wears an armored powersuit/exoskeleton, designed for law enforcement and peacekeeping (rather than military) applications, that enhances her strength, has electroshock combat pads, and allows her to use her legs normally.

She has minimal training in any kind of combat, and is only an average hand-to-hand fighter.

Name - Nastja - Feminine form of ANASTASIUS. This was the name of a 4th-century Dalmatian saint who was martyred during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian. Due to her, the name has been common in Eastern Orthodox Christianity (in various spellings). As an English name it has been in use since the Middle Ages. A famous bearer was the youngest daughter of the last Russian tsar Nicholas II, who was rumoured to have escaped the execution of her family in 1918.

Mighty Protectors has a very different design view of Armor and persistent protection than its predecessors. Consequently, it is extremely expensive to get comparable values. So I went with Invulnerability to the most common Damage Type she is likely to encounter, and called it a wash.

ADR 128 - the good news is that it is heavily plated, padded and insulated, including climate control system. The bad news is maintenance and repair is a bitch. Every time she gets hit, roll percentile dice. If the roll is less than the current ADR, then reduce the ADR by the damage taken, and she suffers no personal injury. She can “roll with the blow” normally to protect the armor;

Heightened Defense: Motion sensors and reflex enhancers enable her to avoid more attacks (opponents are -4 “to hit” her) while she is conscious, mobile, and aware of the attacker.

Heightened Intelligence B Device: Brain implants, some of which are mounted on the outside of her skull, give her +19 Intelligence. These are permanent and difficult (but not impossible) to disable.

Physical Handicap: An accident damaged her legs, and she needs prosthetics (or cool power armor) to move faster than 6” per turn.

Invention: With her helmet on, the suit provides Adaptation, with 8 charges. Each hour or use as defense expands one charge. Charges can be refreshed by spending one hour in her workshop. The helmet also has a 15-minute backup air supply for when the charges run out.

The damage form can vary depending on the special effects. On “modern” Earth the damage form would typically be [chemical] (e.g. “flesh-like polymer”), but in more fantastic or high-tech settings it might also be [poison] (e.g. “healing stimulants”) or [disease] (e.g. “genetically engineered super-blood platelets”).

Friday, July 14, 2017

Callisto Zvezdana Kikkert

Background & Origin: She was born in the United States. After a stint in the military, she studied ecology in college (getting her Masters) and became a lobbyist, finding she had a passion for both.

Her place of birth was a military base. She grew up with her siblings, but ran away from home at 16, because her family life was an absolute and unpleasant mess, got into trouble, and bailed herself out by joining the Army. She mustered out after two terms and went to college.

She has the following siblings:

An older sister that hates her for some past transgression;

A younger brother that bears her a grudge for some past transgression;

An older half-sister that she hates because of some past transgression.;

An adopted older sister that suffered grave misfortune, becoming involved with a religious cult or destructive social order;

A younger sister that suffered grave misfortune, becoming involved with a religious cult or destructive social order.

She has experienced the following important events:

She made a friend, someone younger than her that she feels protective about. This person has some influence with a gang, a guild, or other larger group;

She made a friend, an old friend that she reconnected with. This person is an important figure both locally and beyond the immediate area;

Her long-term relationship ended when her partner broke up with her without reason;

She made a friend, a relative. This person has great personal power;

She made an enemy, crossing the line between love and hate with a former lover. He makes her shouty-angry. He has some influence with a gang, a guild, or other larger group. The dislike is the result of a personal relationship;

A rigorous stretch of military training strengthened her.

Her powers manifested while on an ecological project. She took a few days to go hiking, and “communed with nature” way more than expected.

Combat Tactics: She uses her invisibility and illusions to confuse and shut down foes.

She is a trained and dangerous hand-to-hand fighter, striking with uncanny precision.

Personality Traits: Motivation: Utopian. Her worldview drives her to confront the enemy. This may be a personal philosophy, or something she shares with others (such as patriotism, or a religion). She may have been raised with these values, or developed them only recently. Her worldview may be based on moral or ethical convictions or be entirely fanciful, but she MUST try to live up to it, and be an example to others.

She has very strong passions, and a great deal of comfort with them. She is not ruled by her passions, because she knows how to work with them, and channel their energy into her actions. It is an emotional kung fu akin to the tai chi master who bends and rolls through the storm, rather than the tiger style master who smashes and hammers. She can still lose her shit, but rarely (and always intensely), and she doesn't hold grudges.

She doesn't think of herself as “having powers,” so much as “having a better understanding of things.” She can come off a bit parochial and arrogant.

Appearance:She is in her early 30s, 5’8”, 168 lbs. She wears her hair long and flowing. She favors the latest fashions and spends lavishly on the best clothing.

She has a lot of tattoos, but is clever about covering them with her clothing and (when necessary) her illusions.

She was born female, identifies as female, expresses as female, and likes men. (About as uncomplicated as you can get, which is nice, because I kind of had an idea for the character, and I confess, gender identity wasn’t part of it.) (Apparently, the Mighty Protectors book has random tables for this, which is both cool and weird, at the same time.)

Powers:“The Speed of Soul” - every living thing has a soul. That's rather the definition of “living,” one should think, i.e. it has a soul. “Soul” transcends commonly understood physics, to encompass all energy, including the psionic band of the electromagnetic spectrum.

She exists in harmony with that energy field, and consequently benefits from it, can blend into it, and can tug and stir it, to manipulate the perceptions of anything with a soul. It also allows her to move and process information and decisions faster relative to normal humans.

She has normal strength for a woman of her age, height and build who engages in moderate regular exercise.

Notes:Model unknown. Character by I.A. Riley, June, 2017.

Document Copyright (C) 2017 by I.A. Riley. All rights reserved. Portions Copyright others; no attempt is made to infringe upon their rights.

Illusions: She can tamper with the perceptions of living beings, and anything defined as having a soul, creating illusions that affect all visual, auditory and olfactory perceptions. PR=2 per turn.

Invisibility: She can tamper with the perceptions of living beings, and anything defined as having a soul, becoming undetectable and gaining the benefits described by the power, because it affects all the target’s perceptions simultaneously. PR=4 per hour.

Training: Reduced PR for Illusions, included above.

Training:Reduced PR for extra actions per turn. The first one is always free, and her second one is also free, but the third, fourth and fifth are PR=2, as normal.

So, the Old Man of the gaming group (hey, he's pushing 50!) says one day "Jeff Dee is coming out with the latest edition of Villains & Vigilantes! Can we do a few sidebar sessions to play through the history of the game?"

And everyone is like "Sure!" and some of us are Googling "WTF is Villains & Vigilantes?" And he's like "We'll do V&V, then LL, then MP!"

Hey, I love me the SHRPG genre, and I love new games, so I'm in, despite having no idea what he's talking about. But, you know, I learned about Jeff Dee, Jack Herman, and Monkey House Games.

(Actually, it was like "Oh, I've heard of that Jeff Dee.")

So, we do a random chargen session, and I guess I got a crapload of powers, and then some cool stat-booster powers, and then he left me alone with a copy of the book, while he helped the others.

...because then, the Sleeping American Majority, which is just now starting to rouse from its complacency and tolerance of the oligarch-worshipingignorance-embracinghate-driven cancer eating at our underbelly, May finally awaken and the civil upheaval and accompanying painful growth spurt can finally happen.

Sunday, July 9, 2017

To the special snowflake at Target wearing the #FeminismIsCancer t-shirt: you're such a tard advertising to the the world you're an asshole afraid of women. I infer by the Hot Wheels cars you are buying that you carry a major grudge against your ex-wife, probably because she has a mind. You special snowflake, you.

Bastard Monk Weapon

Benefits: The character can treat a bastard sword as a monk unarmed attack, substituting “bastard sword” anywhere it says “monk unarmed attack.”

The “unarmed attack” part was originally a misspeak by the GM, but there were witnesses and she decided to roll with it, especially when I announced the reason my Fighter 2 was switching to Monk 1 (at level 3), was because she found a new path, and renounced all material possessions to take a Vow of Poverty (q.v. Book of Exalted Deeds).

You get things like “I went through treatment and now I'm cured,” or “I quit smoking and now I'm good.”

Yeah? How many smokers do you know who have quit “only once”? Most smokers take up the habit again and again. Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances ever engineered by man. Heroine is another. These substances didn't happen by accident - they were cultivated and nurtured for their addictive properties.

The human body and mind are wired to get addicted to things - sometimes those are chemical, sometimes behavioral.

Internet addiction anyone? Be it social media, or porn, or just wasting time in games. It’s not chemical, but it's sure as Hell engineered to be addictive.

We are hardwired to feel good. Sometimes we can make strategic choices to “delay gratification,” which ironically gives us something to feel good about in the moment, which is really just the fix our bodies are after, anyway.

“All control begins with self” - we consciously learn ways to trick our bodies and brains into the “feel good right now” it demands, by finding ways to feel good about long-term goals.

Turns out that anger and hostility trigger some of the same brain chemicals that laughter and joy do. We're hard-wired to her pissed off *and like it.* What a shitty-ass design.

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

It strikes me that I bet this time last year, the rwNJ blogosphere was as full of "this President sucks!" memes and rants as the left-wing blogosphere is today. Different face, different excuse, same sentiment.

I loathe humanity, but love people, because not-so-deep under the skin, we're all just human.